fix: correct misleading sort order comments

Co-authored-by: Ona <no-reply@ona.com>

packages/aris-core/src/feed-engine.ts

@@ -299,6 +299,7 @@ export class FeedEngine<TItems extends FeedItem = FeedItem> {
 		let currentItems = items
 		const allGroupedItems: ItemGroup[] = []
 		const allErrors = [...errors]
+		const boostScores = new Map<string, number>()
 
 		for (const processor of this.postProcessors) {
 			const snapshot = currentItems
@@ -321,6 +322,12 @@ export class FeedEngine<TItems extends FeedItem = FeedItem> {
 				if (enhancement.groupedItems?.length) {
 					allGroupedItems.push(...enhancement.groupedItems)
 				}
+
+				if (enhancement.boost) {
+					for (const [id, score] of Object.entries(enhancement.boost)) {
+						boostScores.set(id, (boostScores.get(id) ?? 0) + score)
+					}
+				}
 			} catch (err) {
 				const sourceId = processor.name || "anonymous"
 				allErrors.push({
@@ -331,6 +338,12 @@ export class FeedEngine<TItems extends FeedItem = FeedItem> {
 			}
 		}
 
+		// Apply boost reordering: positive-boost first (desc), then zero, then negative (desc).
+		// Stable sort within each tier preserves original relative order.
+		if (boostScores.size > 0) {
+			currentItems = applyBoostOrder(currentItems, boostScores)
+		}
+
 		// Remove stale item IDs from groups and drop empty groups
 		const itemIds = new Set(currentItems.map((item) => item.id))
 		const validGroups = allGroupedItems.reduce<ItemGroup[]>((acc, group) => {
@@ -486,6 +499,47 @@ export class FeedEngine<TItems extends FeedItem = FeedItem> {
 	}
 }
 
+function clamp(value: number, min: number, max: number): number {
+	return Math.min(max, Math.max(min, value))
+}
+
+function applyBoostOrder<T extends FeedItem>(items: T[], boostScores: Map<string, number>): T[] {
+	const positive: T[] = []
+	const neutral: T[] = []
+	const negative: T[] = []
+
+	for (const item of items) {
+		const raw = boostScores.get(item.id)
+		if (raw === undefined || raw === 0) {
+			neutral.push(item)
+		} else {
+			const clamped = clamp(raw, -1, 1)
+			if (clamped > 0) {
+				positive.push(item)
+			} else if (clamped < 0) {
+				negative.push(item)
+			} else {
+				neutral.push(item)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	// Sort positive descending by boost, negative descending (least negative first, most negative last)
+	positive.sort((a, b) => {
+		const aScore = clamp(boostScores.get(a.id) ?? 0, -1, 1)
+		const bScore = clamp(boostScores.get(b.id) ?? 0, -1, 1)
+		return bScore - aScore
+	})
+
+	negative.sort((a, b) => {
+		const aScore = clamp(boostScores.get(a.id) ?? 0, -1, 1)
+		const bScore = clamp(boostScores.get(b.id) ?? 0, -1, 1)
+		return bScore - aScore
+	})
+
+	return [...positive, ...neutral, ...negative]
+}
+
 function buildGraph(sources: FeedSource[]): SourceGraph {
 	const byId = new Map<string, FeedSource>()
 	for (const source of sources) {

packages/aris-core/src/feed-post-processor.test.ts

@@ -209,6 +209,163 @@ describe("FeedPostProcessor", () => {
 		})
 	})
 
+	// =============================================================================
+	// BOOST
+	// =============================================================================
+
+	describe("boost", () => {
+		test("positive boost moves item before non-boosted items", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(createWeatherSource([weatherItem("w1", 20), weatherItem("w2", 25)]))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({ boost: { w2: 0.8 } }))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			expect(result.items.map((i) => i.id)).toEqual(["w2", "w1"])
+		})
+
+		test("negative boost moves item after non-boosted items", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(createWeatherSource([weatherItem("w1", 20), weatherItem("w2", 25)]))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({ boost: { w1: -0.5 } }))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			expect(result.items.map((i) => i.id)).toEqual(["w2", "w1"])
+		})
+
+		test("multiple boosted items are sorted by boost descending", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(
+					createWeatherSource([
+						weatherItem("w1", 20),
+						weatherItem("w2", 25),
+						weatherItem("w3", 30),
+					]),
+				)
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({
+					boost: { w3: 0.3, w1: 0.9 },
+				}))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			// w1 (0.9) first, w3 (0.3) second, w2 (no boost) last
+			expect(result.items.map((i) => i.id)).toEqual(["w1", "w3", "w2"])
+		})
+
+		test("multiple processors accumulate boost scores", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(createWeatherSource([weatherItem("w1", 20), weatherItem("w2", 25)]))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({ boost: { w1: 0.3 } }))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({ boost: { w1: 0.4 } }))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			// w1 accumulated boost = 0.7, moves before w2
+			expect(result.items.map((i) => i.id)).toEqual(["w1", "w2"])
+		})
+
+		test("accumulated boost is clamped to [-1, 1]", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(
+					createWeatherSource([
+						weatherItem("w1", 20),
+						weatherItem("w2", 25),
+						weatherItem("w3", 30),
+					]),
+				)
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({ boost: { w1: 0.8, w2: 0.9 } }))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({ boost: { w1: 0.8 } }))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			// w1 accumulated = 1.6 clamped to 1, w2 = 0.9 — w1 still first
+			expect(result.items.map((i) => i.id)).toEqual(["w1", "w2", "w3"])
+		})
+
+		test("out-of-range boost values are clamped", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(createWeatherSource([weatherItem("w1", 20), weatherItem("w2", 25)]))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({ boost: { w1: 5.0 } }))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			// Clamped to 1, still boosted to front
+			expect(result.items.map((i) => i.id)).toEqual(["w1", "w2"])
+		})
+
+		test("boosting a suppressed item is a no-op", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(createWeatherSource([weatherItem("w1", 20), weatherItem("w2", 25)]))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({
+					suppress: ["w1"],
+					boost: { w1: 1.0 },
+				}))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			expect(result.items).toHaveLength(1)
+			expect(result.items[0].id).toBe("w2")
+		})
+
+		test("boosting a nonexistent item ID is a no-op", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(createWeatherSource([weatherItem("w1", 20)]))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({ boost: { nonexistent: 1.0 } }))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			expect(result.items).toHaveLength(1)
+			expect(result.items[0].id).toBe("w1")
+		})
+
+		test("items with equal boost retain original relative order", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(
+					createWeatherSource([
+						weatherItem("w1", 20),
+						weatherItem("w2", 25),
+						weatherItem("w3", 30),
+					]),
+				)
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({
+					boost: { w1: 0.5, w3: 0.5 },
+				}))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			// w1 and w3 have equal boost — original order preserved: w1 before w3
+			expect(result.items.map((i) => i.id)).toEqual(["w1", "w3", "w2"])
+		})
+
+		test("negative boosts preserve relative order among demoted items", async () => {
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(
+					createWeatherSource([
+						weatherItem("w1", 20),
+						weatherItem("w2", 25),
+						weatherItem("w3", 30),
+					]),
+				)
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({
+					boost: { w1: -0.3, w2: -0.3 },
+				}))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			// w3 (neutral) first, then w1 and w2 (equal negative) in original order
+			expect(result.items.map((i) => i.id)).toEqual(["w3", "w1", "w2"])
+		})
+
+		test("boost works alongside additionalItems and groupedItems", async () => {
+			const extra = calendarItem("c1", "Meeting")
+
+			const engine = new FeedEngine()
+				.register(createWeatherSource([weatherItem("w1", 20), weatherItem("w2", 25)]))
+				.registerPostProcessor(async () => ({
+					additionalItems: [extra],
+					boost: { c1: 1.0 },
+					groupedItems: [{ itemIds: ["w1", "c1"], summary: "Related" }],
+				}))
+
+			const result = await engine.refresh()
+			// c1 boosted to front
+			expect(result.items[0].id).toBe("c1")
+			expect(result.items).toHaveLength(3)
+			expect(result.groupedItems).toEqual([{ itemIds: ["w1", "c1"], summary: "Related" }])
+		})
+	})
+
 	// =============================================================================
 	// PIPELINE ORDERING
 	// =============================================================================

packages/aris-core/src/feed-post-processor.ts

@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ export interface FeedEnhancement {
 	groupedItems?: ItemGroup[]
 	/** Item IDs to remove from the feed */
 	suppress?: string[]
+	/** Map of item ID to boost score (-1 to 1). Positive promotes, negative demotes. */
+	boost?: Record<string, number>
 }
 
 /**